• Ask The Editors
• Men's Style

Should My Watch Strap Match My Shoes?

I have an understanding of what watch to wear when – dress watch with a suit, chronograph at weekends – but what rules are there about how you attach it to your wrist? Does the strap need to match my shoes? What about my belt or bag?

Daniel, Wilmslow

The rules of style, handed down at some point by god knows who, are pretty clear on this: you match your leathers and you match your metals. If your shoes are brown, so must your watch strap be. And your belt, your briefcase, your wallet, your chaps, your studded choke collar. Equally, if you plump for a gold wedding ring, you’d best upgrade your jewellery – everything from your watch to your tie bar should match.

How much stock you put in this kind of thing is, frankly, up to you. Personally, I avoid the palaver altogether with a fabric strap – an orange-and-navy NATO, since you ask – or a Milanese mesh bracelet, which I pair with a cold, cruel personality to ensure I need never find a wedding ring to match.

As with everything, the more formal you look, the more you should adhere to the rulebook. But if you do decide to go matchy, then don’t go matchy-matchy: a man whose leathers are all precisely the same shade of brown is the kind who swerves towards animals when they cross the road in front of him. A few shades of difference, please. Or else expect other people to swerve you. — Tom Banham, Associate Editor

Tom Banham

Jocks & Nerds deputy editor Tom Banham is an outerwear addict with bylines in GQ, Men’s Health and Mr Porter. He’s fascinated by the collision of high fashion and streetwear, but also knows his way around a soft-shouldered blazer. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter at @banham_tom